Ahmadinejad and Samareh Hashemi in the early 1980s

The following photo shows a group of university students in their mid-twenties relaxing in a dormitory room at Tehran’s Elm-o-Sanat (Science and Technology) University, circa early 1980s.

On the extreme left of the photo you can see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an engineering student, leaning back with a smirk on his face and sporting a chin-curtain beard. Fifth from the left is the bearded Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, currently his senior adviser and a key figure in his political life.